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Report: VW's Audi Used Tech to Cheat Emissions Tests, Too

A US regulator discovered software that lowered vehicles' carbon dioxide emissions under test conditions.

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Volkswagen subsidiary Audi reportedly cheated on its car emissions testing, too.

Nextcar Bug artAs reported by German daily Bild am Sonntag and translated by Reuters, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) over the summer discovered a device that lowered vehicles' carbon dioxide emissions under test conditions.

The technology—installed in Audis with diesel and gas engines here and abroad—detects when a car's steering wheel is dormant, which suggets the car is in lab-testing mode, and lowers its emissions output. If the wheel is turned in any direction more than 15 degrees, indicating normal driving mode, the gadget turns off and the car goes back to elevated emissions output.

Audi reportedly stopped using the software in May 2016 and suspended several engineers.

Volkswagen in September 2015 admitted that 11 million of its diesel cars featured software that recognized when the car was undergoing official emissions testing. According to Bild am Sonntag, VW did not use the same devices that were found in the Audis.

The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, sued VW, Audi, and Porsche for violating EPA standards and the Clean Air Act. Volkswagen in January proposed a catalytic converter fix for up to 430,000 vehicles affected by the emissions scandal.

Volkswagen, Audi, and CARB did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

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